Privacy Policy

BioNews Services Privacy Policy

1. Privacy Policy Overview.
BioNews Services (“BioNews Services,” “us,” “our,” or “we”) is a digital media firm focused on building the web’s only network of news-based chronic disease education platforms. We currently operate over thirty (30) disease-specific news websites that provide patients, caregivers, physicians and industry professionals access to comprehensive, disease-specific news coverage, and we are continuing to grow.

At BioNews Services, we recognize that those living with a chronic disease, as well as their friends and families, search the web often looking for the latest news and reports on novel treatments, next-generation therapies and other business and research-related breakthroughs that could impact their quality of life. We are not a “covered entity” under the Health insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and its rules (“HIPAA”), and do not provide medical or health advice. What we are is passionate about providing patients and their caregivers access to the most up to date news about their respective conditions, and also providing our industry clients access to very specialized demographics within difficult to reach patient populations. In this way, we bring patients and professionals together through clinical trial recruiting, product advertising, patient surveys and patient education.
We are also committed to respect and protect the privacy of the personal information you provide us through our website, and have created this Privacy Policy to inform you about how we collect, use and share your personal information, and about our privacy practices in general. This Privacy Policy applies to all information collected about you when you interact with our services, websites, and other interfaces, regardless of how it is collected or stored. This Privacy Policy outlines the types of information we may collect about you, how we may use that information, how your information is protected, when we may disclose that information, and how you can control the use and disclosure of your information. We may amend or update this Privacy Policy at any time. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully.

By accessing or using this website or our services, you are acknowledging that you have read, understand and accept the terms of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to such terms, please do not access this website or use our services.
This Privacy Policy covers information collected through the following websites:
Except as otherwise noted in this Privacy Policy, BioNews Services is a data controller (as that term is used under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”)), which means that we decide how and why the information you provide to us is processed.

2. Types and Uses of Collected Information.
Many of our services do not require any form of registration or identification. You can freely visit many of our web pages without telling us who you are. However, some other of our services, such as inquiring about participation in specific clinical trials and participating on online surveys, may require that you provide your personal details, including information about your medical history, demographics, and the like. This allows us to process and/or send you information that you request about specific clinical trials or that enable us to compile sufficient survey data. When you first register for a BioNews Services program or service, we ask for your consent to collect your personal information. At that time, we also explain what you are registering to receive under that program or service, and how we plan to use your personal information.

We collect or obtain information directly from you, in the course of our relationship with you, when you make your personal information public, when you download, install, or use any of our websites or services, when you visit our websites or services, when you register to use any part of our websites or services, or when you interact with any third party content or advertising on our websites or services. We may receive information about you from third parties. We may create information about use, including records of your interactions with us. This Privacy Policy does not cover the practices of third parties who may provide information about you to us, and we are not responsible for information you volunteer about yourself to third parties or in public areas of our websites or services.

We may collect three types of personal information about you, including Personally Identifiable Information, Personal Health Information, and Non-Personally Identifiable Information:
a. Personally Identifiable Information or “PII”. When you engage create an account, send us feedback, or otherwise participate in our services, we may ask you to provide certain information about yourself such as your first and last name, your mailing address and other contact details, your age, birth date, gender, nationality, e-mail address, telephone number. This is PII. Other information we may collect that will constitute PII includes, but is not limited to: your username, password, or log in details; records of your consents; details of your employment (i.e., employer, job title, work experience); your educational background; language preferences; social media handles and/or profiles; your location information; non-health information provided in response to surveys; photographs information about your interactions with our content or advertising; information about your use of our services; browsing history, and; any views or opinions you provide to us. We may collect and process your PII, to include collection, recordation, organization, structuring, storage, adaptation, alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination, making available, alignment, combination, restriction, erasure, or destruction.
b. Protected Health Information or “PHI“. If you elect to engage in certain activities such as inquiring about a specific investigational clinical research trial or providing answers to a survey question or questions, included in the PII we ask you to provide may be a request for information about your medical history. This may constitute “protected health information” or “PHI” under HIPAA, and we will protect its use and disclosure as applicable under HIPAA. For some of these activities or services, providing the requested PII or PHI is mandatory, and if you do not provide the requested information, you will not be able to participate. Depending on the activity, we may not re-ask you for your PII or PHI if it is already stored with us. To the extent that information we collect is PHI or another special category of personal data subject to GDPR, we will ask for your explicit consent to process the data. We will obtain this consent separately when you take actions leading to our obtaining the data. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
c. Non-Personally Identifiable Information. Non-Personally Identifiable Information is information that does not identify a specific person. What it is and how we use it are discussed more fully below.
d. Consent to Provide Your Personal Information to BioNews Services. As noted above, we require and obtain your explicit consent to collect your PII and PHI when you inquire about an investigational clinical research program or service, or when we conduct a survey. We also offer you the option of discontinuing your consent (“opting out” or “unsubscribing”) if you later decide that you no longer want to participate in that program or receive additional information from us. If we wish to use this information for purposes incompatible from those for which the data was initially collected, we will offer an effective way to opt out of the secondary use.
e. Use of Personally Identifiable Information. We may use PII or PHI to provide products and/or services to you, administer sweepstakes and contests, enhance the operation of this BioNews Services website and improve our services, improve our marketing and promotional efforts, analyze the usage of BioNews Services services, tailor your experience with third parties, accomplish administrative tasks, contact you, enforce our agreements with you (such as our Terms of Service and this Privacy Policy), comply with applicable law, and cooperate with law enforcement activities. Some of these uses are more fully described below.

4. Direct Marketing
We may process your information, including PII and PHI, to contact you directly via e-mail, telephone, direct mail, or other methods of communication to provide you with information regarding services or offerings that may interest you. We may send you information regarding our websites or services using the contact details that you have provide to us, and will do so in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. You may unsubscribe from any subscriber lists, e-mails, or other communications at any time at no charge.

5. Clinical Trials
We provide research notices as an informational service to you, both by making you aware of clinical studies that are available for participation, and by maintaining a data bank/registry of others like you who register with us in order solicit information and participants for future clinical trials. For clinical trial opportunities that you learn about through us, we will only share your PII with the trial site near you once you have consented to be contacted and authorized us to share that information. Your PHI in the registry may be utilized by our qualified professional and industry clients to develop inclusion criteria for participation, promote participants’ safety and assist researchers in learning the information they need. However, we will only share your PHI with such clients once you have provided your explicit consent to us for such utilization of your PHI, and once you have provided your consent to those clients with confirmation to us of that consent.

6. Authorized Third Party Service Providers.
BioNews Services may provide products and services through third parties. These “Third Party Service Providers” perform functions on our or your behalf. You or we may share your PII with such Third Party Service Providers to fulfill orders, move data in or out of BioNews Services, analyze data, operate the BioNews Services services, troubleshoot and provide customer service. We may also provide personal information to individuals and companies with which we have business relationships and/or contracts for the purpose of, among other things, sharing data, and may share your information with Third Party Service Providers to accomplish our administrative tasks. The use of your PII by such parties is governed by their privacy policies and/or terms and conditions and is not subject to our control.
However, in the event that the third party is a covered entity under HIPAA and we have contracted to be that entity’s “business associate” regarding the use and disclosure of PHI—for example, for specific clinical trials—we will comply with all applicable HIPAA privacy and security requirements. In the event we share your PHI with a third party, such data sharing will only be subject to a written agreement between us and that third party setting forth the terms and conditions of such data sharing.

7. Non-Personally Identifiable Information.
This type of information may include things like the Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) of the website you visited before coming to the BioNews Services website , or otherwise participating in this website, the URL of the website you visit after leaving our website, the type of browser you are using, your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, or general and/or aggregated location data that does not constitute PII. We and/or our authorized third party service providers may automatically collect this information when you visit or use this website through the use of electronic tools like Cookies and Web beacons or Pixel tags, as described below.
We may use this information to troubleshoot, administer the BioNews Services service, analyze trends, gather demographic information, comply with applicable law, and cooperate with law enforcement activities.
We may disclose or share Non-Personally Identifiable Information with Third Party Service Providers and the general public. For example, we may share aggregated demographic information (which does not include any PII) or use Third Party Service Providers to track and analyze Non-Personally Identifiable usage and volume statistical information from our users to administer our service. We may also publish this aggregated information for promotional purposes. Such data is collected on our behalf, and is owned and used by us.

8. Data Tracking.
a. Cookies. To facilitate and customize your experience with our website, we may store cookies on your computer or other similar device through which you access our service. A cookie is a small text file that is stored on your computer or other device for record-keeping purposes that contains information about you. We use cookies to save you time while using this website, remind us who you are, and track and target your interests in order to provide a customized experience. Cookies also allow us to collect Non-Personally Identifiable Information from you, like which pages you visited, what links you clicked on, and how you used the BioNews Services services. We may use Third Party Service Providers to display advertisements on the website. As part of their service, they may place separate cookies on your computer or similar device. We have no access to or control over these cookies. This Privacy Policy covers the use of cookies by the BioNews Services only and does not cover the use of cookies by any Third Party Service Provider. Most browsers automatically accept cookies, however you may be able to modify your browser settings to decline cookies. Please note that if you decline or delete these cookies, some parts of this BioNews Services website may not work properly. Users may opt out of Google’s use of cookies by visiting the Google advertising opt-out page at http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html.
b. Other Tracking Devices. We may use other industry standard technologies like pixel tags and web beacons to track your use of the website, or we may allow our Third Party Service Providers to use these devices on our behalf. When you access the BioNews Services website or open or click an email, pixel tags and web beacons generate a Non-Personally Identifiable notice of that action. Pixel tags allow us to measure and improve our understanding of visitor traffic and behavior on the website , as well as give us a way to measure our promotions and performance. We may also utilize pixel tags and web beacons provided by our marketing partners for the same purposes.
c. How to Opt-Out of Third Party Tracking Technologies. Our advertising service vendors and other third parties may also use tracking technologies to serve you advertisements tailored to interests you have shown by browsing on this website and other sites, applications, destinations, and services you have visited, and to determine whether you have seen a particular advertisement before to avoid sending you duplicate advertisements, and for other lawful business purposes. In doing so, these third parties may collect Non-Personally Identifiable Information including for example the make, model, settings, specifications (e.g., CPU speed, connection speed, browser type, operating system, device identifier) and geographic location of your computer, mobile or other device, as well as date/time stamp, IP address, pages visited, time of visits, content viewed, ads viewed, the site(s), application(s), destination(s), and/or service(s) you arrived from, and other clickstream data. The use of tracking technologies by third parties is subject to their own privacy policies, not this Privacy Policy, and we have no responsibility or liability in connection therewith. If you do not want the services that tracking technologies provide, you may be able to opt-out by visiting http://www.aboutads.info.

9. Acquisition.
As with any other company, BioNews Services could merge with, or be acquired by another company. If this occurs, the successor company would acquire the information we maintain, including PII and PHI. However, PII and PHI would remain subject to this Privacy Policy.

10. Disclosures Required by Law.
We reserve the right to disclose your PII or PHI as required by law and when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process served on us, enforce or apply this Privacy Policy, Terms of Service or other agreements or protect the rights, property or safety of BioNews Services, our Service, users of our Service or others.

11. Referrals.
You may choose to invite friends to join or read BioNews Services by sending invitation emails via an invite feature. BioNews Services stores the email addresses you provide so that the respondents may be sent reminders of the invitations. BioNews Services does not sell these email addresses or use them to send any other communication besides invitations and invitation reminders. Recipients of invitations may contact BioNews Services to request removal of their information from our database.

12. Updating Information.
If you are enrolled in the BioNews Services service, you may change, edit, or remove any of your applicable PII or PHI by logging into your account and accessing the user profile page. We encourage you to promptly update your PII or PHI if it changes, as out-of-date personal information may negatively affect the quality of your BioNews Services experience.

13. Choices on Collection/Use of Information.
You can always choose not to provide certain information, although as explained above, a certain level of information may be required to engage and participate in some BioNews Services services. If you are enrolled, you cannot opt-out of Administrative Emails. “Administrative Emails” relate to your activity on the BioNews Services Service, and include but are not limited to emails regarding your account, requests or inquiries. If you do not want to receive promotional emails from us, you may elect to opt-out of receiving promotional emails at any time after registering by e-mailing us at [email protected] or by hitting the “unsubscribe” button at the bottom of any of our e-mails.

14. Security of Information and Data.
You can access your PII or PHI via this website with your password and username. This password is encrypted. We advise against sharing your password with anyone. If you access your account via a third-party site or service, you may have additional or different sign-in protections via that third-party site or service. You need to prevent unauthorized access to your account and PII or PHI by selecting and protecting your password and/or other sign-in mechanism appropriately, and limiting access to your computer, browser, or mobile device by signing off after you have finished accessing your account. Unauthorized entry or use, hardware or software failure, and other factors, may compromise the security of user information at any time. In the event that we believe that the security of your information may have been compromised, we may seek to notify you of that development. In addition, your PII or PHI resides on a secure server that only selected personnel and contractors have access to. We have implemented appropriate security measures to protect your PII or PHI against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized access, and other unlawful or unauthorized forms of processing, in accordance with applicable law. We may encrypt certain sensitive information using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology to ensure that your PII or PHI is safe as it is transmitted to us. However, no data transmission can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we employ commercially reasonable security measures to protect data and seek to partner with companies that do the same, we cannot guarantee a breach will not occur, and we cannot guarantee the security of any information transmitted to or from or via the BioNews Services Service, and we are not responsible for the actions of any third parties that may receive any such information. The transmission of information online is not entirely secure. Therefore, although we will implement reasonable security protections for your information, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to us online. You make any online transmission at your own risk and bear complete responsibility for ensuring you send personal information to us securely.

15. International Transfers of Information.
We may transfer your personal information to recipients in other countries that may have different laws and data protection compliance requirements to those that apply in the country in which your are located. If we transfer your personal information from the European Economic Area (“EEA”) to recipients located outside the EEA who are not in a jurisdiction that has been formally designated by the European Commission as providing an adequate level of protection for personal information, we do so on the basis of standard contractual clauses. Be aware that when you transfer any personal information directly to a company outside the EEA, we are not responsible for that transfer.

16. Third party Advertising.
Advertisements appearing on our website may be delivered to you by BioNews Services or one of our advertising partners. Our advertising partners may set cookies. Doing this allows the advertising partners to recognize your computer each time they send you an advertisement. In this way, they may compile information about where you, or others who are using your computer or device, saw their advertisements and determine which advertisements are clicked. This information allows an advertising partner to deliver targeted advertisements that they believe will be of most interest to you. BioNews Services does not have access to or control of the cookies that may be placed by the third party advertising servers of ad partners. This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by BioNews Services and does not cover the use of cookies by any of its advertisers.

17. Data Tracking.
a. Privacy Policies of Third Party Websites. This Privacy Policy only addresses the use and disclosure of information we collect from you via the BioNews Services website. Other websites or services that may be accessible through this website may have their own privacy policies and data collection, use and disclosure practices. If you use, link or visit any such website, we urge you review the website’s privacy policy. We are not responsible for the policies or practices of third parties.
b. Email Choice/Opt-out. We will make commercially reasonable efforts to implement your email opt-out requests promptly, but you may still receive communications from us for up to ten business days as we process your request.
c. Privacy Settings. As a user, you may have limited access to privacy settings. These settings help hide information you wish to share with other users and/or the public. It is up to you to select the appropriate privacy settings. If you do not agree with the available privacy settings, we request that you please stop using the BioNews Services website.
d. Public Areas. We may provide areas on the BioNews Services website where you can publicly post information about yourself or can communicate with others such as on forums. This information may be accessible by other users and companies and may appear on other websites or web searches, and therefore this information could be read, collected, and used by others. We have no control over who reads your postings or what other users may do with the information you voluntarily post, so please use caution when posting any content or providing anything that could be deemed personal information.

18. Control of Your Information.
You may take certain actions to control and restrict your personal information. First and foremost, you are not required to provide information to us. Upon your request, we will inform you of whether or not we have any of your personal information. You may access, correct, or ask us to delete any of your information at any time.

19. Choices Regarding Your Information Under EU Law.
If you are an EU resident, or if your personal information is otherwise subject to the protections of EU law, you may: (a) access, correct, update, or request deletion of your personal information at any time by contacting us; (b) refuse to share information, or certain information, with us; (c) object to or request us to restrict the processing of your information, or request portability of your personal information; or (d) withdraw your consent for us to process your information if at any time we have collected and/or processed your personal information with your consent.

20. Notice of Privacy Rights to California Residents.
California law requires that we provide you with a summary of your privacy rights under the California Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and the California Business and Professions Code. California law requires us to inform you, at your request, (1) the categories of PII we collect and what third parties we share that information with; (2) the names and addresses of those third parties; and (3) examples of the products marketed by those companies. COPPA further requires us to allow you to control who you do not want us to share that information with. To obtain this information, please send a request by email or physical mail to the address found below. When contacting us, please indicate your name, address, email address, and what PII you do not want us to share with our marketing partners. The request should be sent to the attention of our legal department, and labeled “California Customer Choice Notice.” Please allow 30 days for a response. Also, please note that there is no charge for controlling the sharing of your PII or requesting this notice.

21. Children.
The BioNews Services website is not directed to people under the age of 13. No one under the age of 13 should provide any PII or PHI to otherwise disclose information in connection with our website(s) or services. If you become aware that your child has provided us with personal information without your consent, please contact us at [email protected] If, despite this, your children disclose information about themselves, consequences may occur that are not intended for children. If it is discovered that we have collected PII or PHI from someone under the age of 13, we will delete that information immediately.

22. BioNews Services Terms and Conditions.
In addition to this Privacy Policy, BioNews Services has its Terms of Service, which govern its services and the use of its websites and other online offerings. The Terms of Service are incorporated by reference into this Privacy Policy. Please review the Terms of Service regularly to keep apprised of any updates or changes.

23. Customer Service.
For assistance or questions regarding this Privacy Policy or this BioNews Services website, you may contact us at [email protected] or by visiting our online portal located at https://bionewsservices.com.

Disclaimer:

Dravet Syndrome News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.

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